NEW DELHI: IT industry body Nasscom has shortlisted 25 startups which will pitch their ideas to over 50 Japanese venture capital firms and institutions at an event in Tokyo next month.

The September 3-4 live pitching session, part of Nasscom’s ‘10,000 startups initiative’, is likely to see investments in pre-series and series A / B / C levels where the founders are looking to raise more than $2 million up to a maximum of $10 million.

From over 1,504 applications, Nasscom selected 25 innovative tech startups—from sectors such as agritech, foodtech, cybersecurity, healthtech and mobility—after a rigorous screening and voting process.

Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh said there is an unmatched synergy between India and Japan and partnerships such as these further pave the way towards helping the startup ecosystem flourish. "Japanese VCs have shown particular interest in investing in Indian tech startups that are creating unique solutions specific to the domestic needs in the country,” said Ghosh. “This partnership represents the ‘startup bridge’ between India and Japan, bringing two successful entrepreneurial ecosystems together to create innovative and largescale companies of the future."

The applications were judged and reviewed by industry champions from India and Japan, including Ravi Gururaj, founder of Qikpod, Kunal Bahl, founder of Snapdeal, Nau Murakami, partner at Incubate Fund, Eto Munehiko, partner at Dream Incubator, Brij Bhasin, India head at Rebright Partner, Vinit Bhansali, vice president for investment at Orios Venture Partners. The selection process included parameters like fund raised, propensity to scale, innovation, problem-solving strategies, current round size, valuation, etc.

Gagan Sabharwal, senior director, Global Trade Development, Nasscom, said, “Encouraged by the interest level the session has received, I think we may be inclined do more such sessions in Japan in the future. And we could also replicate this model in other countries, especially China.”

The pitching session is scheduled to be held at Embassy of India in Tokyo. The pitching session will be followed by a one-on-one speed dating session in which the participating startup companies will get to meet interested Japanese investors.

Shota Naoi, president of BEENOS Inc, said, “BEENOS proactively invests in marketplace companies in India. We have seen much growth over the years and firmly believe that this growth will continue. We look forward to meeting new companies with equal or greater potential to partner with and potentially even synergize with our existing subsidiaries and investees.”
NEW DELHI: As part of its 10,000 startups inititiave, Indian IT industry body Nasscom will take a delegation of 25 Indian start-ups which will participate in a live pitching session in front of over 50 Japanese venture capital firms and institutions.

The investments are likely to be in Pre-series, Series A/B/C level where the founders are looking to raise a sum of more than $2 million upto a maximum of $10 million. Started in May 2019, Nasscom received over 1504 applications from startups, and after a rigorous screening and voting process 25 innovative tech startups from sectors such as Agritech, Foodtech, Cybersecurity, Healthtech, Mobility, etc have been shortlisted.

Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said that there is an unmatched synergy between India and Japan and partnerships such as these further pave the way towards helping the startup ecosystem flourish by strengthening capabilities and fostering co-creation. "Japanese VCs have shown particular interest in investing in Indian tech startups who are creating unique solutions specific to the domestic needs in the country. This partnership represents the “startup bridge” between India and Japan, bringing two successful entrepreneurial ecosystems together to create innovative and large-scale companies of the future."

The applications were judged and reviewed by industry champions from India and Japan, including Ravi Gururaj, Founder and CEO, Qikpod, Kunal Bahl, Founder Snapdeal, Nau Murakami, Partner at Incubate Fund, Eto Munehiko, Partner at Dream Incubator, Brij Bhasin, India Head at Rebright Partner, Vinit Bhansali, VP Investment at Orios VP. The selection process included parameters like fund raised in past, propensity to scale, innovation, problem solving strategies, current round size, valuation etc.

Shota Naoi, President and Group CEO, BEENOS, Inc said, “BEENOS proactively invests in marketplace companies in India. We have seen much growth over the years and firmly believe that this growth will continue. We look forward to meeting new companies with equal or greater potential to partner with and potentially even synergize with our existing subsidiaries and investees.”

The pitching session is scheduled on September 3rd - 4th 2019, in Tokyo to be held at Embassy of India. Following the Pitch session on the day, one-on-one speed dating session will be pre-arranged for these startup companies to meet with interested Japanese investors.

"Encouraged by the interest level this session has received, I think we may be inclined do more such sessions in Japan in the future. And we could also replicate this model in other countries, especially China," added Gagan Sabharwal, senior director, Global Trade Development, Nasscom.